This epic novel, entitled Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (Satomi and the eight “dogs”) is a yomihon, or reading book, one of the popular genres of Edo-period (1600-1867) prose fiction. The story depicts the adventures of eight samurais whose last names begin with the Japanese word for dog. The author, Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848), also known as Kyokutei Bakin, worked around 30 years on this, his best-known work. This copy is a first printing, owned by Bakin himself, that shows his corrections of misspellings in the original printing.